An Open Letter to the Next Warriors Owner

After sweeping up the broken pieces of the 09-10 season, it’s time for a break from our harsh reality. Some teams’ fans dream about winning a championship. Others fantasize about blockbuster trades or draft-day steals. Warriors fans have far more modest ambitions: new ownership. With deal books out to investors, our collective dream has never been closer to reality. I’m not taking anything for granted until the ink is dry on Cohan’s term sheet — and even then, he’ll probably still find a way to gum things up by suing someone — but there are lots of reasons to be bullish on the Warriors sale. With that in mind, here’s my open letter to our next owner.

Congratulations on buying the Warriors! Although you’re now $400 million dollars poorer, you just became a hero to tens of thousands of people across the Bay Area. In exchange for ending one of the ugliest ownership runs in the history of the NBA, you’re going to be rewarded with a significant honeymoon period. People will be amazed when you hold a press conference, regardless of what you say. When the team makes a basketball move, people might actually assume that it was a smart one. And if you show up at a game with your child, we promise not to boo you.

That said, running an NBA franchise isn’t an easy task — particularly when the franchise has been run into the ground over the past two decades. You can’t let the instant adoration go to your head. The Warriors’ need swift, decisive action. You didn’t ask, but here’s what I would do:

Fire everyone — Dysfunction has been a way of life for too long within the Warriors. To get a clean start, you need to clean house. Anyone who had significant decision-making authority within the business or basketball branches of the team should be fired for cause. Just tear out the “Team Record” page from the Warriors’ media guide and staple it to their termination letter. Usually it makes sense to keep some people on to ensure a smooth transition, but not here. What’s the downside to a rocky transition — the 28th worst record in the league instead of the 27th? There’s very little, if anything, from the Cohan era you want to perpetuate. I’m sure there are hard-working people in the lower levels of the organization with no real authority, just trying to earn a living (like the poor guy who keeps leaving messages for me about renewing my season tickets). They can stay. Everyone else needs to go.

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Hire a basketball mind to think big — To avoid the unforgivable sin of the Cohan era, your primary goal should be to make the Warriors a winning basketball team. If you do that, the money will follow. To resurrect this team from its losing ways is going to take some work. You’re going to need a new coaching staff, a new GM and probably a lot of new players. Before you start the rebuilding, however, you need a plan. You may be a great business person, but chances are you’ve never played basketball in the NBA or run in the same small circles as the men and women that control the league. You’re bringing the bankroll, but you need someone else to bring the basketball credibility. Hire someone to be the Warriors’ Red Auerbach — a figure that can formulate a long-term plan for the team, credibly evaluate coach and GM candidates and will have his or her calls returned in the small, insular scene that is the NBA. I don’t expect you to give that person absolute authority — you do own the team after all — but remember where your strengths lie before you reject that person’s basketball recommendations.

Pay the luxury tax — The 09-10 luxury tax was threshold was just under $70 million. Of the eight teams left in the playoffs, 7 of the 8 are paying the tax. Only the Hawks are under — and it shows given the pitiful fight they’re putting up right now against the Magic. I’m not recommending that you throw money wildly at the next Adonal Foyle or Corey Maggette to come up for a contract, but don’t be penny-wise, pound-foolish like Cohan was year after year. The NBA salary cap, at least as it now stands, still gives those with deep pockets a big advantage. You can use your full mid-level exception each year to add a solid rotation player. You can view trade exceptions as a means of improving your team, not just your bottom line. You can swap the big expiring deals of non-contributors for the big long-term deals of actual contributors, even if those players will eventually put you over the tax when it comes time to renew your current players. But one word of warning — don’t just spend money for the sake of spending it. Listen to the advice of the basketball mind you hire, use the market forces in the NBA to your advantage, and stick to your long-term plan to invest wisely.

Be patient – Winning basketball franchises are usually built on relationships — between players, coaches, and front-office staff. Those relationships don’t develop overnight. Once you and your basketball mind settle on a plan, lock-in for the long haul. Announce to your fans what you’re doing. Warn them that it might be a year or two before they see returns. Ink your coach and GM to three or four year contracts so they feel safe losing in the short-term to build a winning. Allow your players (and coaches) to make mistakes until they find something that works. Be opportunistic if good opportunities come along, but don’t make panic moves. A well-built basketball team can have a decade-long run of success. It’s worth waiting a few years to be really good, not just good enough in the short-term.

Come back to the City, but don’t lose touch with the Town — No offense meant to Oakland or the East Bay. In fact, I believe a big reason the Warriors have such die-hard fan support is because they’ve taken on some of the East Bay’s personality. But to be a true big-market team, the Warriors need to be in the biggest market in the area. A new arena in San Francisco will revitalize the team’s image, help lure better corporate sponsors to cover the luxury tax bill, and likely add another 1000+ seats to the max capacity — making the building even louder than before. I recognize that the only practical place to build an arena in the City is by the ballpark, but the location would make it frustratingly difficult for East Bay fans to get to the game. My dream solution would be a mid-Market arena, dropped between the Powell and Civic Center BART stops. The planning would be a nightmare — securing a full block for the arena and another one or two for parking — but the potential reward would be huge. The building would be easily accessible from the East Bay and Peninsula by BART. For those in the City it would be on major Muni lines and easily walkable from plenty of neighborhoods. The location would put the Warriors in the center of the City’s map and attention. One thing I wouldn’t change, however, is the name — Golden State may be a leftover from our trans-California days, but it nicely captures the Bay Area-wide scope of the fanbase.

Get back to basics — At the risk of being self-serving, the Warriors have incredibly knowledgeable basketball fans. They respect the intricacies of the game, they sense when their team needs a lift from the crowd, and they reward players for playing the right way. Of course, when they come to the Arena to watch Cohan’s team, they’re bombarded with constant non-basketball experiences, as if the game weren’t enough to hold their interest. If you want to do something really revolutionary with the fan-experience of going to a Warriors game, go old school. Get rid of the pizza throwers, the t-shirt shooters, the tricycle rides and the laughably overblown introductions for the fourth-worst team in basketball. Focus attention on the game and team instead. Conduct more interviews with players and the coaching staff. Show highlights during breaks from great moments in Warriors’ history (or even just the rest of the NBA — the Arena is one of the few NBA buildings I’ve been to that ignores the rest of the league on a nightly basis). Retire Chris Mullin’s number and throw a big tribute party (criminally, he’s the only Run TMC member not to have his number retired in the NBA). Have Jim Barnett teach me something I never knew about running a fast break or defending a pick and roll. There are tons of possibilities, but just respect your fanbase enough to keep them basketball-focused. It’s time to scrap “A Great Time Out” in favor of “A Great Basketball Game.”

Be there — Lao Tzu once observed, “to lead the people, walk behind them.” I don’t think you necessarily need to walk behind your fans, but it would be nice if you walked around the arena and said hello occasionally. Or held a press conference, or addressed the fans at a game, or attached your name to something that wasn’t requesting money. You don’t need to be Mark Cuban — and I’m not even sure that’s a good model to emulate — but you should engage your fans and the community. The recent eulogies for Franklin Mieuli were touching in how average fans remembered vivid details of conversations they had with the man 30+ years ago. Their attachment to the team was strengthened because they formed some connection, if only briefly and on one narrow topic, with the owner. Sports teams are a uniquely public/private enterprise. They provoke passion and loyalty that normal corporations could only dream of having. When you buy a team, you’re not just a shareholder in it, but a public figure. Be ready to embrace the role.

Ultimately, your ownership will be judged on the quality of team you put on the court. Some of that team’s success will hinge on luck, but a lot of it can be earned by leading a credible organization. There will be tough decisions along the way, but here’s a final tip on how to navigate them: ask yourself “what would Chris Cohan do?” Then do the opposite.

i was going back through this thread and realized I misse your post at 44. Please accept my apologies for res;ponding so late.

Of course I agree that warrior fans deserve new ownership but I disagree that a new GM/coach is in the best interests of the fans or franchise. Most on this blog who criticize nellie also grudgingly approve of this roster, with the exceiption of CM. Nellie and Riley are making decisions based on the long and not short term interests of the team, stockpiling young talent for the next coach to work with,

It will be mid summer at the earliest when this sale is finalized . That is not the time to follow Adam’s advice and fire everyone. To hire who ?
Yes nellie has his vocal detractors but the best interests of the franchised will be served by letting nellie coach out his contract , move to the front office as a consultant. having him running the draft for as many years as possible woiuld be smart for the w’s and their new owner.

pbob20

Oracle

The “name a 20 low point post player” that DN coached argument again? Oracle, I could care less about this but you were roundly beaten on this argument in the past. Again?

First, you rejected Dirk and like players because he’s not a Low Post player .

Well this year there are only 2 true low post players that got 20 points. 2! Randolph and Lee, who barely got 20, and who wants Randolph?

In the past excluding HOF players there were none for DN or any coach.

I like the GO Green movement, but some things need to get tossed

pbob20

NBF

I personally agree that DN paired with a good owner willing to spend, and a good long term coach that its possible they could assemble a good thing, and DN could make some great trades, and/or draft selections compared to the average GM (based on the past).

BUT, I know a decent size cross section of long time W fans, many who used to like DN, that are simply fed up with DN. Arguing whether they are justified really isnt important. Adam is a great example. Look back at his old posts before, during, and after “We Believe” and he was a supportive, enthusiastic, but sometimes critical supportor of DN. Adams downward trajectory of DN is very typical for many of the fans.

While DN could perform well as GM, the massive amount of negativity that 20 years of futility can only be flushed with a clean slate. Its important that the new ownership connect to the serious long term W fans first and the other fans second.

I would be willing to bet that of those with a serious opinion about the W’s and how its run that DN has a less than 50% approval rating, regardless of how well he might perform. Why bring that forward? DN has always flourished even though he was always contraversial. If he could move quietly into the background, maybe, if he wasnt 70, maybe. The day for new ownership and new leadership has come.

All that said, I was hoping DN got one last “put up or shut up” season with a quality and healthy line up. If the sell of the team occurred after Nov and the owner let DN finish the year paired with an aggressive long term trade or two, Id enjoy it if DN had fll energy to do it.

jsl

gmoney going off about “circle jerks”? Surprise, surprise.

BTW, no “functional, winning basketball team” in these parts until we get the Fat Man outta here. It’s really gonna be that easy.

Or haven’t ya been paying any attention the past few years?

bryhsiao

Gmoney, all good points.
I dont like to beat the dead horse.
And I didn’t say Nellie would not use them if we have C.Frye and Amare however——> WE DON’T HAVE THEM.

That’s why I said Nellie had failed us and our team. You either use your personnel and get it to work or trade/sign whoever you want.

Dont give me crap like our GM failed to bring what Nellie wanted. our GM is Nellie. C. Frye only costs 2M and I also wanted to bring him in before the season started. What we got was Mikki Moore the BEEF.

I emphasize this on possible coaches next season including Nellie that they need to maximize this roster or trade/sign what they want and show us. Nellie hasn’t done either.

We already know it’s a nightmare for us to have CM logging 35mins at PF and a career night in waiting for opponent bigs that way. However things don’t change. Defense never gets stressed over enough.

However, Suns Gentry is making it work. Amare is not a strong Defender either, neither does Frye but they work as a team and make it work.

Whoever says otherwise is just nutz. Amare still is a below the average defender at his position and worse at Center. Gentry still made it work.

What makes them defensively sound but we fail to do? They don’t even have their backup Center.
Both teams play fast and furious style but one with D, and the other doesn’t.

See where this is going?

gmoney

bryhsiao.

I don’t believe Nelson has had control over the front office during his tenure here. I really don’t. If he had any say, there is no way in hell we would have signed Maggette and even less of a chance we would be a halfway house for D Leaguers. If you believe that Nellie had full freedom to go out and get the players he wanted and this is the roster he put together, then you and I will never agree and there is little to no point in engaging in any kind of discussion.

But this is all besides the point. Let me say it for the hundreth time. ITS IRRELEVANT.

New ownership=new coach. Problem solved. New ownership seems like a sure thing at this point, so debating the merits of Nellie now is much akin to discussing GW’s gubernatorial career during the Obama inauguration.

I will not address nor discuss any topic dealing with Don Arvid Nelson from this point forward. Since thats all we talk about here, I may be taking an extended hiatus from the Fast Break.

GO SUNS

The Oracle

pbob missing the entire point, but why is that not a surprise?

bryhsiao

lol Gmoney, you may not be able to read this since you are going to take a break.
but the whole point here was if he is not the GM, he needs to be the COACH who maximizes this roster with a plan.

A coach who fails to even get his team to play solid D and basic boxout rebounding is a failure no matter what his accomplishment is.
Our team doesn’t have to be on top of the league in defensive but just to be middle of the pack. And with our fast pace style, we should be able to win more often than lose.

And that’s what Suns are doing. And that’s what we should be doing.
if they can make JRich play D, why couldn’t we? Maybe there is still hope in CoryMagette? I doubt though

A sale is not going to arrive before the summer, Nellie will still be around next season which makes it relevant enough to talk about him coaching us still.

You are delusional if you think the new owner will come in during the season and start cleaning house right away.

The Oracle

I am rooting for Phoenix, but I don’t think they can beat the Lakers.

I see a large dose of Gasol and Bynum, and no real answer for Phoenix. And foul trouble for Amare. Then there’s Odom. Artest to guard whomever is hot. Kobe can guard anyone else.

The Lakers have a low post player or two. Two of the best players in the game in Gasol and Kobe. They are tough on defense. They can board. They can score.

Phoenix is going to have to run and hit 3′s. Amare’s going to have wear out Gasol running. And Phoenix can hope their bench is way better than LA’s bench. They have a puncher’s chance, but are a long shot imo.

Should be fun.

El Topo

G$ and NBF:

What’s wrong with dissing Nelson? He has a losing record with W’s, only won 55 last 2 years, got lucky 4 years ago and went to playoffs…the sum of his achievements as coach of the Warriors!

As I’ve pointed out before, we fired Adelman after 2 years though he had more wins than Nellie has in last 2. Also, Del Negro was fired by Bulls after 2 years of .500 ball. Woodson will soon be fired too, despite 53 wins this year.

Any other organization would have fired Nelson after such poor results; but we are Cohan and Rowell and we must save money at all costs. We screwed up giving him a new contract after We Believe, but we refuse to correct the mistake, since it would cost us.

So heaping abuse and excrement on Nellie is quite appropriate and deserved. Don’t bring up his past greatness, his 3 COYs, his innovations, the injuries, his 1335 NBA wins, whatever. No excuses.

El Topo

Finding a good coach is difficult, like finding a unicorn pelt or a female bullfrog.

Again, what about Byron Scott? Opinions?

Mopedelic

I agree with el Topo. They should fire Nellie or whatever coach they have, because damn it, we are the Clippers North: going from bad to worse every year, every new year Cohan keeps owning this team. Fire away! Trade! Trade!

Kiso

nbf @ 207: You’re right that the salaries on both sides of a trade do not have to match exactly, but they do have to be within 10%. If the Spurs really want Maggette (which I doubt) make them take Vlad Rad ($6MM expiring), which would create a match for Richard Jefferson’s salary, rather than Buike.

nelliesbiggestfan

el topo

it’s fine to diss nellie these are public figures and they get paid millions taking fan abuse is part of the deal.

but this is supposed to be a fan blog , where people come to seriously discuss basketball, if you criticize you should be consistent about it.

If championships are your criteria then nellie doesn’t measure up ,but neither does jerry sloan.

If winning percentages most important that’s fine as well but realize that Lenny wilkins isn’t very good by that standard.

If prioritizing defense and rebounding are important to you that’s fine but don’t turn around and rave about Alvin Gentry and the Phoenix frickin Suns. The coach that prioritizes defense and rebounding the most in that series lost.

Even casual fans know that injuries effect winning percentages and yet here you are saying let’s judge nellie by his record the last two years with “no excuses” you know more about basketball than this.

BTW the celtics did not fire doc rivers after two years of losing (58 total wins) They won a title the next year.

nelliesbiggestfan

kiso

I thought the rule was that you could take back 125% of the salary that you send out if you are over the cap. I would prefer your trade with Vlad instead of KA, I would also use RT if it was necessary to complete the deal. SA is already paying a lot of luxury tax , I don’t know If they will take back more salary than they send out.

El Topo

NBF,

There are 3 OBJECTIVE criteria for evaluating coaches:

1. Career regular season W-L record. I once posted here that there are 11 or 12 coaches with better W-L %ages than Nelson.
2. Career post-season W-L record. I posted this too. Nelson’s record is so putrid even Dunleavy has done better. Under .500
3. Championships. This is more hit and miss than the other 2 criterias. For example, Sloan twice ran into a team with the GOAT. In any case, DAN=0

Anything else is subjective and must be treated as simply an opinion. Yours happens to be a poor one, my friend, probably because you never played the game at a high enough level (at least JC).

Many others, far more knowledgeable than you, seem to think that Nelson is not, at this time, a very good coach, though he may have been in the past. Yes, you’ll always find some expert defending Nelson…just like you can find someone defending Iraq war.

El Topo

Some here have liked Brandon Bass.

Seems like Ryan Anderson, playing the same PF position as Bass, is getting more floor time than BB. He’s also younger, cheaper, shoots better, rebounds slightly better than BB. Surely SVG knows something.

So why the love for BB? Besides, Anderson is a Cal guy…why not try to get him (at $1.3M vs. $4M) rather than BB?

nelliesbiggestfan

el topo

we’re evaluating coaches here not players, where did you coach ? no where, that’s what I thought. Yet you list the supposedly objective criteria for judging coaches. Here’s a question, how do we really know if Scott Brooks is a better coach Than Kurt Rambis ? One was handed a team with a superstar and the other was handed a horrible level of talent.

As you ponder that, remember that these criteria are most important to you so when other posters suggest that the w’s should hire some assistant with no record at all I expect you to vigorously object. The next coach of the w’s can’t have no record at all can he ? he’s got to have a better record than Nellie , right ? Because records are the most important thing , right ?

bryhsiao

nbf 268, if you play hoops for a coach before, then you would know the players know alot about good coaches when they see it. Many of us play highschool, college balls here. We know coaches way better than you since we got coached every day even on different division and levels.

you had absolutely no idea and credence than us since you haven’t not played the sports or coached ever. at least we have better idea since we played hoops and know coaches in all levels.

You know nothing about basketball, never play or coach basketball either
but you are on here saying we cannot criticize Nellie because we never coach?
Tell us your credence about defending Nellie eh? You are not qualified to even defend Nellie.

See how flawed your logic is now?

Son of Ahmed

Lilliputian! Lilliputian! Lilliputian!

Son of Ahmed

#268

Liliputian!

bryhsiao

IMO, we should stop criticizing on NBA players too since NBF will then accuse us that we have never played NBA basketball that we are not qualified to even comment on them.

And major sports site, all the sports radio and journalists should all quit except ex-pro players turned journalists since they played the sports that they must know more.

IMO, why vote and criticize different political issues since we are not politicians that we dont know how complicated it is to be one?

We are not qualified!!!

Gosh. how can we criticize Bush that we have no experience of being a damn president!?

Nbf, you can now STFU.

nelliesbiggestfan

bryhsiao

my logic is flawed ? you guys sit here all day and sit in judgement of someone who was a college all- american, who won 5 nba titles as a player and coached 30 years in the NBA. Coaches like Popovic, Del Harris , Larry Brown, George Karl and Jerry Sloan have all talked often about nelllie’s skills as a coach. But we should instead go by the judgement of a bunch of bloggers on a bay area fan site. that makes sense.

bryhsiao

Yeah. nbf, your 272 just got freaking owned by my 271 before you even posted it.

seriously, you makes no sense.

A well-educated basketball fan can criticize everything basketball.
you are a freaking idiot to say otherwise.

bryhsiao

btw tell us if we should not criticize President Bush since we have no experience of being a damn president!?

a well-educated citizen can criticize every single decision he made. we are so qualified.

you lose.

earl monroe

Limbo

nelliesbiggestfan

Good morning

it’s a new day and another chance for us all to make this a better blog. I promise I won’t be the first today to take shots at the people i’ve been having conflicts with . Have a nice day.

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